Today was a drizzly, wet, sloppy, gloomy sort of day, so I was able to find lots of time to sit down and curl up, reading-wise. While I initially read 40 pages of Between the World and Me, it seems like a book I need to digest slowly instead of powering through, so I’m going to be reading a little bit of it everyday. For my tackling to the ground, skidding through the mudand grass book, I chose I.W. Gregorio’s None of the Above. And … I pretty much read it in one sitting. Consider the book well-tackled.

A groundbreaking story about a teenage girl who discovers she was born intersex… and what happens when her secret is revealed to the entire school. Incredibly compelling and sensitively told, None of the Above is a thought-provoking novel that explores what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between.

I loved it. Very emotional, very true, very fair — I loved that the author is a practicing surgeon, it gave that much more authority and sincerity to the writing. The main character, Kristin, finds out she’s intersex and has to deal with her perception of her own identity suddenly tipping upside down — and you realize that it wasn’t so much her identity that changed, but it was how everyone else suddenly treated her that totally upended her world. While cruel and disappointing, the way she was bullied rang true: people can be so quick to turn on friends and loved ones as soon as a “weakness” or “difference” crops up. If someone is labeled as “Other”, their feelings and bodies and rights get dismissed. “They’re Other, they’re Strange, they’re Abnormal so we don’t have to treat them as a human anymore.” None of the Above really exposed that side of people. I hope people pay attention to this book. And consider the human element when they balk at and bully someone for having a life, body, or identity different than their own.

Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 16TH (DAY 3)

Read: Read 328 pages of None of the Above, and 40 pages of Between the World and MePages Read: 368Total Books Read: 2

Total Pages Read: 638Finished Books: Will Grayson, Will Grayson; None of the Above

It runs for two weeks, in which we all hope to have a blast with challenges, giveaways, and, most importantly, a ton of reading! See all the details, sign up, see the full schedule, and enter the giveaway here and share your goals (if you didn’t on your sign-up) here .